1. Field of the Invention
The invention pertains to the field of methods of recycling and reuse of shipping platforms, including retrieving and returning shipping platforms from downstream receivers. More particularly, the invention pertains to identifying shipping platforms and using a computer network to identify, to retrieve, recycle, and/or return the shipping platforms back to the original shipper.
2. Description of Related Art
Industries all over the world ship their goods using shipping platforms. Industries customize shipping platform specifications for the shipping of their product. Shipping platforms can be made out of a variety of materials, such as wood, plastic, and aluminum. Once the industries have shipped their product using the shipping platforms, the receiver then has to deal with all of the shipping platforms that are left. The receiver might not have the knowledge of where each shipping platform has come from or whether it is reusable. This poses a problem for the receiver in terms of discarding the shipping platforms.
The receiver most often cannot grind the shipping platforms, which often led to the only alternative of placing them in a landfill. Some recycling companies or scrap dealers will accept shipping platforms from end recipients, but then they must determine where the shipping platforms should be sent or sold, or they will have to dispose of them.
Since there began to be a possibility of introducing harmful chemicals into the land from the shipping platforms, it has been an objective of the industries using shipping platforms to try and reuse them. In the process of meeting this objective there have been several patents issued in recent years. For example, Hyatt's “Recyclable Packaging System and Process for Using the Same,” U.S. Pat. No. 5,829,229, issued on Nov. 3, 1998, shows a system where a “resource manager” keeps an inventory of the trays used for the assembly of a product. The trays that end up at the product manufacturer and at the purchaser as being in excess are returned to the Resource Manager through a reuse program and an 800 number. The Resource Manager cleans, repairs, and recycles the trays, which are then put back into the closed loop system.
Another example is Kralj's “Integrated Reusable Pallet Having Data Collection Devices and Method for Using Shipping Conveyances,” U.S. Pat. No. 5,971,592, issued on Oct. 26, 1999, shows a method of recycling shipping platforms that includes a built in computer chip (EPROM) to store the pallet information. When a pallet is received, it is assigned a permanent ID number by the computer at the Main Pallet Placement Office, which also tracks the location and use of the pallet. If the customer has no further use for the shipping platforms, the pallet provider is called to pick up the shipping platforms. The shipping platforms are taken back to a Receiver Pallet Placement Office which reads the electronic device and reports back to the Main Pallet Placement Office, who then bills the customers for use of the shipping platforms.
Bowling's “Method and Apparatus for Repairing Pallets,” U.S. Pat. No. 6,058,586, issued on May 9, 2000 deals mostly with the repairing of the pallets, in the process of repairing the pallets, an identifying indicia is placed on the pallet by the shipper repairing the pallet. The indicia only gives information regarding the repair shipper of the pallets.
The American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) has a standard practice for marking of pallets, practice D6253-98. This standard is voluntary and involves marking each pallet with a minimum of: name of pallet manufacturer, repair shipper, or owner identification code; industry or government specification that was followed to produce the pallet; month and year the pallet was produced; and whether the pallet will have multiuse (M), limited use (L), or repair (R). This standard is voluntary and does not provide a means of return. Plus, the codes that are used are not standard throughout the entire industry, making it difficult for everyone to use them.
The computer industry has also established specifications for pallets used in their industry, including marking pallets with a material classification mark, supplier designation, country of manufacture of the pallet, date of manufacture of the pallet, the part number, the engineering change number, and the reusable pool system symbol. This shows that the industry is coming to realize that need to identify shipping platforms. This mark does not specify where the pallets need to go after they have been used, furthermore, these markings do not pertain to a shipper using the mark or stencil for recycling purposes.
Other such marks that specify a certain pallet have been used since the end of World War II in Europe, such as EUR. This stamp only identifies that it is the specific pallet made in Europe and does not identify an original shipper or provide a means of return. Other marks such as CP1-9, CHEP, and PECO which only say “property of” also identify specific pallets but do not provide a means of returning the pallets.